


Line-Crossing

by orphan_account



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Class Differences, Fluff, Greenhouses, Lord Way, M/M, Tattoos, There's also a baby at the end, and some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-13
Updated: 2014-11-24
Packaged: 2018-02-25 06:39:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2612045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Frank finally gets up on his feet, he finds a job taking care of the greenhouses in a manor house. He hopes this new beginning will help him forget and allow him to heal.</p><p>Moving into the country, Gerard hopes he'll finally be left alone by all the people back home who can't seem to stop criticizing everything about him. He also hopes to find some peace and maybe even (yes, he actually dares to be that optimistic) happiness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic ever so... yeah :) I know the language I use is too modern for a historical AU, sorry! I just feel like I'm fucking up all the time when I write with victorian-ish language!
> 
> The whole story is almost finished, I just have to reread it and add some stuff, so if many people are interested and ask for updates I'll feel guilty and post sooner (i.e. please leave comments!)

As soon as he came into the room, Frank fell on the bed. He was so exhausted he just wanted to sleep for the next four days, but he was in his room just to leave his bags and get ready to meet his boss, so he couldn’t lie there for long. 

He had woken up early that morning and gone to the city center, where he was supposed to get the coach that would take him, and the rest of the new workers, to the manor. The man who was to live there (a certain Lord Way) would arrive in a fortnight, and they had to make sure the place was fit for humans by then, which, judging by what he’d seen of the house, and the small number of servants, was quite a challenge. The place wasn’t completely trashed, but looking at his room he could see how much work the housemaids had in front of them. The bed sheets were on top of the mattress, there was a small chest of drawers with a basin and a good-sized mirror on top, a tiny desk with a chair and a window, and it was all covered in dust. The whole place was pretty small, but still bigger than the barely-bed-sized room in which he had been living for the last few months, so he counted it as a big improvement.

When he had finally gotten to the house, it was after a good six hours of travel with only one short stop to have lunch. A man with big hair (the butler) had welcomed the whole group into the house, and told him to be in the entrance hall at 4.00 pm to get introduced to his boss and begin working at once. He had also been given the keys to his rooms and shown to the servant’s quarters. The rooms had been numbered to make it easier for them to find them, or rather, thought Frank, so they didn’t have to show each of them to their rooms, since his wasn’t easy to find at all.

Now he was lying on his bed, his bags on the floor by the door, and he really should be getting ready. Gathering what strength he had left, he pushed himself off the mattress and, after checking the time and making sure he looked presentable. He splashed his face with the water on the basin and left for the entrance hall.

When he got there, the huge room was desolate except for a few maids and the butler talking to an elder man, who must’ve been in his 50s. Since they hadn’t noticed his presence, Frank approached them.

“Excuse me, I’m Frank Iero, I was supposed to come here to begin working?” he said, trying to hide the uncertainty in his voice.

“Yes. Frank, this is Mr. Jones, he’s the head gardener,” the butler explained, gesturing towards the other man. “He worked here before my master bought the house, and he’ll explain all your duties and answer any doubts you have.” He smiled and shook Mr. Jones’s hand, and then he left.

“Let’s get moving, then” said Mr. Jones, and he led Frank outside.

The garden was huge, with a few trellises creating a big, circular structure surrounding a hexagonal fountain. There was a big web with wide holes creating a roof with some kind of creeper growing all over it. Behind it, there was a lawn with some trees scattered about. All of this was framed by a forest. It wasn’t a very dense forest but it had a unique dark green color that made it seem somehow magical and fresh. 

“We have two groundkeepers, you and that boy over there” he said, pointing to a young man already in his working outfit who was trimming the bushes that lined the outside of the house.

“Right now, your job is to trim the bushes in the front lawn so they’re perfect by the time Lord Way arrives, but once we finish getting everything in order you’ll be taking care of the greenhouses.” He said, leading him through a door he hadn’t seen before, as it was hidden behind some bushes on the far side of the house. The room behind it was a fairly small office cluttered with gardening tools. “If I’m not in my office, I’ll be somewhere in the grounds so just search for me.” 

They left the room and began walking around the lawn. Mr. Jones took him to the greenhouses that were off to the left into the forest. He took him around the perimeter of the house, showing him the fence that isolated the property from the rest of the forest. The forest didn’t need to be taken care of, but as a part of his job he had to go around it to make sure it wasn’t “too wild for the aristocrats”. To Frank this, as well as taking care of the greenhouses wasn’t as much a duty as a nice hobby. He was beginning to love this job, and he hadn’t even started yet.

The head gardener also informed him that he was to begin working at sunrise, and he could stop working once all his duties for the day were finished, which, while the house was being prepared, would probably be pretty late. He was warned to stay invisible to the master and any of his guests; so, on his free time he had to stay in the servant’s quarters and come in and out of the house through the back door or the head gardener’s office, which also connected to the servants’ hallways through the back.

When the tour finished, Mr. Jones asked Frank if he had any questions.

“What about the meals?” he asked.

“Right, meals are all in the servant’s hall, breakfast is usually between five and six, lunch’s at 1.00 pm and dinner is at eight, anything else?” he asked, and Frank shook his head. “Well then, you may begin working now.” He said, leaving Frank alone. Knowing he needed to make a good impression on his very first day, Frank immediately began his work at the manor. 

After working hard all day (and only getting done a tiny percentage of what he’d have to do) he went to dinner at the servant’s hall, to meet the people he’d be working with for the rest of his foreseeable future.

For the next month he worked really hard until he finally (finally!) finished the front lawn and went on to prepare the greenhouses. He got well acquainted with the cook, who was the one to tell them what he should grow, and was more of a boss than his own chief. He also made a bunch of friends among his colleagues and, soon enough, he got used to his new life at the manor.

*

Gerard Way was sitting in a carriage looking at his new home. At 25, he was incredibly pressured by his parents to marry a girl and live away from home, but he just couldn’t do that; he simply wasn’t attracted to women and marrying a girl he’d never be able to love was, in his opinion, a huge dick move and really unfair for her, so he decided he’d be single forever.

Gerard had made sure (or rather, Ray had) that all the servants were trustworthy or, at least, the ones who’d be working closest to them. Sex between to men was punished by death, but he hoped his status and money would stop any servant who saw anything inappropriate from telling on him. It’s not like he was expecting to sleep with many men any time in the near future anyway (or in the distant one, for that matter).

He finally gathered the courage to get out of the couch and go into the manor. After a few words with Ray, he went straight up to his bedroom and, once he was there all by himself with the door closed, he allowed for a minor freak-out.

He was dreading all the introducing himself shit he’d have to go through in the next few months, he didn’t know anyone there, but most of all, he hated to death not having Mikey with him. He missed his little brother like crazy, and even though they were corresponding regularly, it just wasn’t the same; it’d never be the same again. But now his kid brother was married and he had to get over it and let him enjoy it, cause that was the worst part; Mikey knew he was feeling lonely and was very worried about him, which had probably been the main reason for him to move to the middle of nowhere, so he’d convince him he was alright.

After calming down a bit, he looked around the room, which was big and well cleaned. The bed was made with beautiful, soft sheets that made him want to lie on it; the big windows let the evening rays of light filter into the room, making it look warm, with long shadows and orange shades settling over every piece of furniture. Other than the bed, there were only a walk-in wardrobe and two nightstands. The walls were light blue, and there weren’t any fancy ornaments. Overall, Gerard thought, it was a pretty nice room.

He was terribly tired so, before he fell asleep standing, he called for Ray and told him that he was going to take a nap and that he wasn’t to be disturbed until dinner. He undressed himself – he didn’t want to have a valet since his unconventional lifestyle led him to not wanting to have a stranger working so close to his personal life. When he had his nightgown on, he fell on the huge bed and instantly fell asleep.

*

The next few days were full of formal introductions and extremely boring small talk. Gerard really hated having to talk to these phony people who didn’t care about him or were even a bit interested in him at all, but just wanted to get on his good side because he was rich. He hated having to pretend to like them for the sake of “politeness”, and having to maintain contact with them just because they lived within a 10-mile radius.

Still, he mostly conformed to the rules of society. He had to, otherwise his life would’ve been much more complicated than it already was; and plus, by pretending he agreed with them he was able to rebel in some pretty big but still invisible ways (like, say, being gay and not hating himself for it).

He had come to the country hoping that things would get better. Sure, he wouldn’t be able to be with many (if any) men, but he’d be in a beautiful house and he’d be with Ray and, well, mostly he’d get rid of him mother’s looks, those looks that were the only thing that made him feel guilty about being himself. 

However, after two weeks of living in his new house he had lost all hope of things getting better. His days were monotonous at best and his work was terribly boring. He found some solace in his painting and his stories, with which he had already filled half a notebook, but it wasn’t enough. Ray was always too busy and he hadn’t met anyone interesting yet. He was lonely and the neighbors he had met so far weren’t doing anything to alleviate his feeling of isolation.

On the third week, he decided to try going for a walk in the gardens. It was raining but somehow that made him even more eager to go outside, as if the rain would wash away his sadness and solitude once and for all. He put on his raincoat and boots and went outside.

The grass was muddy but that didn’t deter him; he walked the path that took him to the fountain but, when he realized he couldn’t stay there or he’d get drenched, he went into the forest.

*

Frank was working in the forest when the rain got heavy. He couldn’t stay there or he’d definitely catch a cold, so he made a run for the greenhouses before his clothes got soaked.

He went into the first greenhouse, which had long tables with many potted plants on them. It was his favorite one, and the most interesting. The other two greenhouses had different crops he had been growing for the cook, but this one was Frank’s sanctuary, he could do whatever he wanted with it.

It was pretty obvious that the previous owner of the house had liked horticulture since there were some pretty rare species that Frank had kept and in some cases almost revived, as they’d been pretty much dead when he got there. 

Since he had already done all his greenhouse duties in the morning, Frank did a round of the place and, after checking there was nothing unusual, he got out an old, worn copy of Dracula (the only book he owned, other than a dictionary) and sat on a barely-held-together chair to read.

After a while, he heard a loud bang on the door, and when he looked up he saw a man who, judging by his fancy clothes, couldn’t be anyone but Lord Way. In one fast movement he stood up and put his book aside and in a few strides he was opening the door. When he came in, Frank lowered his gaze and went to busy himself with something that looked like work, since he knew servants should be invisible to their masters. This, however, proved to be more difficult than he thought since he kept stealing glances at the man and he caught his eye more than once.

Lord Way was completely drenched, his hair sticking to his forehead and his clothes dripping. Even though whenever Frank looked at him he seemed concentrated elsewhere, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had the man’s full attention, and it was unnerving; making him feel extremely self-conscious. After a while in this tense atmosphere, Lord Way cleared his throat.

“What are you doing?” he asked startling Frank, who had been simply pretending to work by fiddling with some tools.

“Trying to seem busy while I come up with a plan to disappear into thin air” he answered.

He knew he shouldn’t have said that, as it could be seen as an offense and he could lose his job, but he wasn’t used to this kind of interaction with the upper classes. It took him by surprise when he heard Lord Way chuckle.

“Wow, at least you’re honest, I’m so sick of people lying to please me” he said. “What were you reading, then?”

“D-Dracula” Frank said, stuttering a bit.

“Really? I love that book!” he said enthusiastically, “I don’t mean to offend you but, how come you can read?”

Frank smiled at the question, since it was true that he shouldn’t be able to read, but it also reminded him of her, and of the painful events that had led him to the manor.

“I fell in love with an upper class girl” he said, smiling sadly, “she taught me to read and write, and gave me that book, it’s the only book I’ve ever read.”

Frank looked away and there was a small pause.

“I’m guessing the story doesn’t end well,” Lord Way said softly; Frank looked down. “Well, you’re always welcome to take a book from the library, we have quite a collection of gothic novels.” Frank looked up in surprise and nodded gratefully.

They talked a bit about books but since Frank’s knowledge was very limited the conversation ended up drifting to the plants. He told Lord Way about the rare species the previous owner had left and the notebook he had found and was trying to decipher, in which each plant had a page full of information, file-card style. They looked it over and Lord Way promised to give him a botanic dictionary so he could keep on working on it.

*

That night, when Frank was laying on his bed, he thought of how nice Lord Way had been to him. Being able to use the library would be a true blessing. He knew he’d never be allowed in there, even if he had the Lord’s permission he was still a servant, and he wasn’t even allowed in the main part of the house, there was no way he’d get to the library. Plus, the only time he'd be able to read was in the greenhouse, and at this time of the year he’d end up destroying the books if he took them in there. Still, it was very nice of him to offer (and incredibly unusual).

As he was falling asleep, it came across his mind that Lord Way was a very handsome man. Frank wasn’t new to the idea of desiring other men, and he had even acted on his desires more than once, but he immediately ushered the thought away. It was way too soon to forget her, and the two situations were too similar for him to let himself imagine Lord Way as anything other than his boss. After that he tried really hard to sleep, but he just couldn’t stop the memories from pouring in.

Her name was Jamia, and Frank had been head over heels in love with her; maybe he still was. He had been a sailor back then, traveling across the globe in a huge cargo ship. He had loved the job and thinking about it now, lying on his bed, exhausted but wide awake with the memories, he felt a pang of sadness so strong he almost began crying. 

It had been one of the times he had been home that he'd met her. She had sneaked out of her house in dirty clothes that she kept for that purpose, and she blended in perfectly with the people at the port. They had talked for a while and the connection had been immediate, so much that they had talked until late evening, and she had gotten into a lot of trouble because of it.

He hadn’t known about her family back then. In fact, he hadn’t found out about them until the first time he had kissed her. They had been in a park talking about their dreams, and she had gotten extremely excited. Her eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm and she looked so beautiful, Frank had decided to go for it and kiss her. She had reciprocated but then she had brusquely broken away. She told him that she’d been lying to him, and explained him that her family was a very powerful one but they treated her like shit, and that she wished she could leave forever and begin a life of her own. To which Frank obviously answered, “run away with me.”

What at first seemed like a stupid idea began to slowly take form, and they made a plan that was actually pretty good and realistic. They had everything thought out, but on they day they were going to finally execute it, they were caught by her parents. Frank tried really hard to block out the memories of the encounter with her family, focusing instead in the following months. He ended up jobless and extremely depressed, and it took him a long time to finally be able to get up on his feet. And now here he was, six months later, with a good job and maybe, just maybe, a slight crush on his boss.

Slowly, without even realizing it, he fell asleep, silently weeping in the dark room.


	2. Chapter 2

Gerard hadn’t seen the groundskeeper in three days. He still didn’t know His name, so he was just thinking of Him in capital letters until he found out. The man was good looking and incredibly smart, and Gerard had wanted to go back to the greenhouses the day after they met but he knew that it would’ve been extremely weird, and just the fact that he had talked to Him at all was suspicious enough, so he’d had to wait.

Now he was finally about to go into the forest again, and he was getting extremely nervous. He knew he was being foolish, but the idea that He might realize what was going on (that is, that Gerard had a bit of a crush on Him) and that He would judge him for it was terribly scary. He knew those fears were unfounded, since he was the master and He’d probably be too afraid to speak up unless he did anything illegal (and probably even if he did), so he used that to reassure himself as he took the dictionary he'd promised to give Him and went into the forest.

When he got to the greenhouses, the man was working on the furthest one from the edge of the forest, so Gerard went to the door and knocked, not wanting to startle Him much.

“Lord Way” He said as he opened the door “It’s a pleasure to see you”

He was sweaty from working on the ground, and he looked so gorgeous Gerard made a point to keep his mouth shut, afraid of what might come out of it if he didn't, so he just tried to put on a smile that ended up being more of a grimace.

“Whatever was your name?” he finally said, somewhat awkwardly. “I don’t recall you ever told me,”

“Frank, sir” he answered.

“Frank” Gerard repeated. “Well, I have something for you, Frank. Remember what we talked about last time I saw you?” he said, showing him the dictionary.

Frank’s eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, which made Gerard feel very pleased with himself. 

“Thank you so much, sir, this is going to be so helpful” he said excitedly, and started for the door before stopping to give a dubious look at Gerard, having seemingly just remembered the difference in their ranks.

“I preferred you yesterday” Gerard commented after an awkward pause. “Yesterday you talked to me as an equal, I miss that.” He said.

Frank was left speechless; he just stared at Gerard, opening and closing his mouth without making any sound.

“See?” said Gerard. “I’m so sick of people tiptoeing around me, just trying to please me because I happened to be born to rich parents. I’m tired of being treated differently when I’m just like everybody else.” He said, looking defeated.

“Okay.” Said Frank carefully. “I’ll treat you as an equal if you can guarantee that if I piss you off or whatever you won’t have any power over me or my job.” He really liked Gerard and he wanted to be his friend as much as the other man, but he wasn’t willing to risk his chance at a new life.

“Done. I’m sure Ray can arrange something.” Said Gerard, beaming.

“Okay. So, what’s your name?” said Frank, taking Gerard by surprise.

“Don’t you know? I’m-“ Frank held up his hand, interrupting him.

“If we’re gonna do this we’re gonna do this right. You’ve never actually told me your name so,” he gestured with his hand.

“I’m Gerard.” He said, shaking Frank's hand.

They went to the other greenhouse and spent a while talking, but Frank really needed to get back to work and Gerard realized that the other man had been worrying about it the whole time they had been talking. He felt really bad about it, so he offered to keep him some company while he finished.

They chatted offhandedly for a while and when he saw Frank was struggling to move a huge pot, he offered to help.

“It’s okay, it’s my job, I can handle it” Frank said.

“Still, I want to help you with something; I don't like doing nothing while you work.” Gerard insisted.

After a bit of a stare contest, Frank said, “Okay, help me with this” motioning towards the plant he was working on. “And by the way, what _is_ your job anyways?”

And with that they launched into a conversation about Gerard’s boring job, laughing at all the funny anecdotes of incompetent brats he told Frank about.

When it was lunchtime, they finished up the work and went on their way through the woods towards the house, but as they got there, Gerard said:

“Hey, I can’t go in this dirty, I’m going to have some guests and they can’t see me like this. Do you think you can sneak me into the third floor through the servant’s quarters without anyone noticing?”

Frank looked at Gerard – his mud-caked hair and hands and his dirty face, that made a stark contrast with his very expensive clothes and even with the way he stood, giving away he was a well-educated man.

“How fond are you of that coat?” Frank said. “Would you mind leaving it here till you can come back to get it?” Gerard slipped out of his coat, making to leave it on the ground but Frank said “no, no, leave it on a tree, it’ll be safer from humidity and shit.”

So Gerard hung his coat on a branch of the nearest tree and Frank slipped out of his coat, giving it to him.

“You can’t stand like that” Frank said, pushing Gerard’s body so his back was more crooked and his face covered, but not suspiciously so. “Walk like this and don’t let anyone see your face. If someone talks to us – which probably won’t happen, everyone’s having lunch now – but you don’t talk, you hide your face, and you follow my lead, okay?”

“Sure” said Gerard, who was a bit taken aback since it was the first time he had received orders from a servant, ever, but he knew Frank was doing it for him, and that that was what he had asked for, so he tried not to show his surprise.

Frank left him at the edge of the woods and went into the Head Gardener’s office to check it was empty. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he motioned for Gerard to go into the office and they quietly got up the stairs. Then, at Gerard’s insistence, they went into Frank’s room.

The room was a mess. There were clothes all over the floor and on the chair, and there was a beaten up acoustic guitar lying in a corner. It was all covered in dirt; the rooms were cleaned once or twice every fortnight, but since Frank worked in the gardens the floor was covered in dust from his clothes.

Frank, embarrassed, set immediately to try and at least hide the scattered clothes (including underwear) as fast as possible. Gerard on the other hand was looking at the mess deep in thought. He was shocked to see the place in which Frank lived. He knew the groundskeeper would live in much worse conditions than him, but he couldn’t help being shocked by how small the room was. He tried to hide this since he didn’t want Frank to remember how different he was, so he asked him if there was somewhere he could wash his face and hands.

Frank stopped piling the clothes under the desk and pointed to a basin that stood on top of a cupboard. The basin was rusty but the water was clear and Gerard set to wash his hands and face on it.

After washing and giving back the coat to Frank, they left the room and went to the third floor, where Gerard slipped into the main part of the house and went to have lunch with a bunch of guests who pretended to like him while quietly disapproving of his unusual ways, and who would later gossip with all the neighbors about the queer man who had dirt under his fingernails and wet hair. Gerard tried to ignore them as much as politeness allowed and, when they finally left, he went on with the day’s business.

At night, when he was lying in his bed, Gerard couldn’t help but wonder about the beautiful man who was probably sleeping right now; in that creaky bed in his tiny room two floors above him. 

He was beginning to suspect he might have made a mistake in wanting to befriend him. Sure, he was amazing and he loved talking to him; but in the darkness of his bedroom he couldn’t help but go to the dark places of his mind that told him that he was going to fuck up. He managed to convince himself that, despite the fact that when he was with Frank, he was the happiest he’d been since he was fourteen, he was going to do something that would make Frank disappear from his life (like falling in love with him, for example). Now that he knew how good it was to feel alive and happy, he feared that the fall would finally leave him so broken he would never be able to put himself back together again. He made a decision right then that he would stop all contact with Frank before it was too late.


	3. Chapter 3

Gerard’s decision to stay away from Frank didn’t last the night and he went to retrieve his coat that morning in the hopes that he’d see him, as he still didn’t think it was smart to talk to him every day. He’d settled on waiting another three days to go to the greenhouses, which seemed to be the number, but he couldn’t give up the opportunity to maybe see him.

Once he was in the forest, he wasn’t able to find his coat, so he convince himself that he absolutely needed it and he had to go fetch Frank, who would definitely know where they’d left it the day prior.

Frank had happened to take the coat because, seeing as Gerard had his and he needed a coat for work, he saw it only fair to take it. Gerard ended up telling him to keep it, despite Frank’s protests, and then, because Frank didn’t have much to do that day, he decided to take Gerard for a walk. He had found this beautiful place in the woods where the creak that ran through the property created a small pool behind some rocks, and he wanted to show him.

After a bit of walking, they got to the natural pool. The place was hidden behind huge rocks and covered by a thick canopy of trees; the rush of water created a very pleasant white noise. Despite the freezing cold, they sat in the one rock that seemed completely dry.

“God, I miss the water” Frank muttered. “I used to be a sailor, you know?”

“No way” Gerard said disbelievingly.

“I did! I have tattoos to prove it!”

“Tattoos? What’s that?” said Gerard, who had no idea of what Frank was talking about.

As an answer, Frank opened his shirt and showed him the picture of a flame right above his heart. Gerard couldn’t help but move his hand towards, but right before he touched the skin he suddenly stopped.

“Can I?” he asked, and Frank nodded, holding his breath.

When Gerard’s cold hand touched his chest he took a sharp intake of breath, but the other man didn’t notice, mesmerized by the picture that the younger man had under his skin.

“How?” he asked, trying to figure out how someone could manage to put ink under the skin.

“They do it with needles” Frank explained, making Gerard’s blood drain out of his face, “they dip the needles in ink and then pierce the skin many times. It’s a very long and painful process, so I only have two of these, but I really love the end result.”

Gerard sat back for a second; taking a hold of Frank’s hand so he wouldn’t fall since he was beginning to feel dizzy. The tattoo was truly beautiful, but the idea of being poked with needles for an endless amount of time made him feel like he was about to faint.

“I really, really hate needles” he said, his face white.

Frank closed his shirt and looked at him, not sure of what to do. He decided to sit closer to him so he’d be able to hold him in case he fainted. He thought Gerard probably needed something to distract him from the idea of getting a tattoo, so he began telling him about his short years at sea, and some of the adventures that happened to him. Soon, Gerard was telling him about his life as a kid and about his baby brother Mikey.

When it was time to go, they stood up from their sitting place in the huge rock but, as Gerard was descending, he slipped and almost fell. He was lucky to find a stable place to put his feet, but in his flailing he hit Frank, who ended up falling into the pond and hitting his head.

Gerard panicked, but after a second of processing and frantic thinking he realized he had to get Frank to the manor. He went to the edge of the pond, right beside the rock and, getting halfway into the water, was able to grab Frank’s coat and pull him out of the water. The water was freezing and outside the cold air made his legs and arms go numb, and Frank began to shiver violently.

Luckily though, he was still mildly conscious; so Gerard took off his coat and pressed it to what he guessed was the wound, which was bleeding a lot, and made Frank keep it there while he lifted him. The man was heavy despite being shorter than him, and he couldn’t hail him up completely, but he managed to keep him upright and support his weight while the two walked towards the edge of the woods.

After what felt like an eternity to Gerard, who constantly tripping, barely able to support Frank’s weight, and a few moments in which he was sure Frank was going to faint, they finally got to the manor. They came inside the house, Gerard’s shirt bloody on the shoulder where Frank had been resting his head, his pants completely soaked, but not as much as Frank whose shivering had gotten worse. Ray rushed to them.

“What the hell happened?” he asked trying to stay calm despite the obvious panic he was feeling.

“Frank, help him, he’s hurt,” said Gerard, barely making any sense. 

When Ray helped him lay Frank on a couch, he took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind so that the younger man could get the help he needed.

“He fell into a pond and hit his head. He needs a doctor and warm clothes.”

Ray promptly beckoned two servants and told them to carefully take Frank to one of the guest rooms, change his clothes and bandage his head, and then he turned to Gerard, who looked ready to go with the other man.

“You go have a shower and change into dry clothes unless you want to get pneumonia or something. And you better explain to me what the hell happened, cause I’m completely lost” said Ray; and then he went to call the doctor, leaving Gerard extremely confused, slowly coming out of his state of shock.

Once he’d showered and he was feeling his limbs once again, he explained everything about Frank to Ray. He wasn’t thrilled about the whole situation, but he agreed to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid or unfair, and that, for now, was enough for Gerard.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! It's almost finished! I think I'll wrap it up in the next chapter or two, and then I have to decide if I add smut and/or an epilogue and that's it ^^

The official story was that Gerard had wanted to see the creek and Frank had been the one to show him there; and that once there, Gerard had slipped and accidentally pushed Frank into the pond, and now he felt so guilty about it that wanted to help him as much as possible; which actually wasn’t all that far from the truth.

The doctor had come and gone and his diagnosis was reassuring. The water had mostly stopped the fall and he only had a superficial cut. He had lost a lot of blood but not enough for it to be dangerous and so, unless he showed any symptoms of a concussion, there wasn’t an important risk to his health. The worst that would happen to him would be something like bronchitis. If he developed something worse they should call him, but if he rested in bed and stayed warm, he should be fine in about a week. Still, he arranged to come in three days time to check in on his progress, and Gerard promised to call him if anything happened.

Now, Gerard was sitting in the guest room looking at Frank’s sleeping frame. He had been there for about an hour, watching the younger man sleep. He tried to convince himself that it wasn’t creepy, he was just worried about him, it wasn’t as if he was perving on him or anything; but the thing was, Frank probably didn’t even regard him as a friend, they had been talking barely for a few days and the other man had been really nice, but that didn’t mean they were friends yet, right? 

Thinking back to their first conversation, he remembered what Frank had said about books and decided to go down to the library to get him something to read while he was sick.

*

When Frank woke up he was in a strange room. As his eyes got used to the lack of light, he noticed how comfortable the bed was, and how soft and clean the sheets felt. He also noticed the clean smell, like lavender and soap, of his pillow. He looked around and realized there was probably daylight outside but the curtains were shut, leaving the room dark except for the rays of sunshine that got through the gaps. He tried to stand up but his head began spinning so he sat back on the bed.

It took him a while to be able to rise, and he took his time to walk towards the window and draw back the curtains. He realized he must be in one of the guest rooms of the manor, which made sense since the last thing he could remember was the hazy memory of two servants taking him upstairs.

When he went back to the bed, he realized there was a note on the nightstand, on top of a pile of books.

_These are a gift to you, since you didn’t take my offer to go into the library yourself. I’ll be back to check on you by lunchtime. Gerard_

Frank had to reread the note to confirm that yes; Gerard had just given him five books. Since he didn’t have anything else to do, he eagerly delved into the books. The first one that caught his attention was one called Frankenstein, by a woman named Mary Shelley. The fact that it was written by a woman and that it kinda sorta had his name in the title was what spiked his curiosity. 

He was already halfway through the book and so engrossed in the story that he didn’t hear the soft knock on the door. When Gerard came into the room he saw Frank sitting up on the bed, his hair messy from sleep but held in weird shapes by the bandage, a look of deep concentration darkening his features. The picture, especially the way the sleeves of the nightshirt, which was too big on him, were rolled over his arms, made Gerard chuckle.

The sound startled Frank, whose expression went from surprise to embarrassment when he realized it was Gerard. 

“So, I’m guessing you like the book” the other man said, amused.

“Yeah” said Frank, still a bit surprised “yeah, I mean, it’s amazing!” He looked up at Gerard.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Tired? But other than that I’m perfect” he said. “How are you? Shouldn’t you have a cold or something?”

Gerard chuckled. “If you’re not sick why should I? You actually bathed in the pool.”

“It’s not like I did it on purpose!” Frank complained.

After that, Gerard began to go through all the symptoms of a concussion with Frank, making sure he was truly okay. They had supper brought to the room so they ate together, and Gerard stayed with him until Frank’s eyes began unconsciously closing, when he went to sleep in his own room wishing Frank a good night. 

*

The next morning Frank woke up with a massive cold. His head hurt like a bitch, his nose was stuffy and he had very high fever, which made him feel like he’d been run over by a horse. When Gerard came to see how he was doing, he gave him some medicine and sat with him, reading while he slept.

This went on for another two days. Gerard had also gotten sick but he wasn’t as bad as Frank, and he stayed watching over him claiming that he was more comfortable in the armchair than he was in bed. Then, Frank’s fever went down and he was able to do something more than sleep and think about how terrible he felt. As soon as he was feeling mildly well, Frank tried to get back to work, but Gerard wouldn’t hear about it, so he just rolled with it and enjoyed his rest, reading and talking to Gerard.

One of those nights, when he was alone, Frank began reflecting on the amount of time he’d spent with Gerard over the past week, and how close he felt to him. After a long, draining argument in his head, which took almost half the night, he concluded two things. One, it was okay to move on now; he’d never be able to be with Jamia again so he should allow himself to go on with his life, stop mourning and let himself be happy. That was what he hoped Jamia had done, and he guessed it was what she’d liked him to do, too. The second thing was that he was definitely attracted to Gerard. He hadn’t decided what to do about this yet, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to act upon it. He guessed he’d just have to let it go away or try to find some girl he could woe instead.

When Gerard had completely recovered he still spent more time with Frank than working. He wouldn’t let him go back to work, wanting to make sure he was truly, completely okay; but mostly wanting to have him close for a little longer. After all the time they’d been spending together, Gerard was going to miss him if they stopped seeing each other every day. A few days later though, Frank did have to go back to the servant’s quarters and everything returned to normal.

Except nothing was normal anymore. The first night he was back in his room was a Saturday and, when his fellow servants decided to drag him out to the city to have some drinks and celebrate he was back with them (and, of course, to figure out why he’d been in one of the guest rooms for more than a week instead of being sent back to his room) he went with them gladly.

When they got back to the manor it was almost Sunday morning and he was filled with regret. He hadn’t gotten too drunk, but in his attempt to forget about Gerard, he had fucked a girl in some dark alley next to the pub. The place was cold and damp, and he had tried with all his might not to think of Gerard while he was doing it, but when release came, the only image in his mind was the man’s stupid face.

*

Gerard was reading in the library next to the window. He had it open a crack so he could have a cigarette without filling the room with smoke. He was ending the book; completely enraptured in the story and devouring every single page, in the headspace that he got into whenever he was about to finish a book he loved for the first time; too eager to figure out what happened to really care about the fact that the book was about to end.

It was then that he heard footsteps outside, but he didn’t pay any mind to them at that moment, too fascinated with the book. When the footsteps stopped right outside his window, and a man began talking, and he realized he would have to close the window if he hoped for the concentration he needed to finish his book.

“Thank you so much for helping me. Man, we’re gonna have to throw this whole thing down.” Said one of the voices.

As Gerard was killing his cigarette, about to close the window, he heard the other man answering in a voice that he could’ve recognized anywhere, and that made him stop suddenly. “Hey, it’s my job too, isn’t it? So how’re we gonna do this?” Frank asked.

The other guy gave some instructions and they seemingly set to work, if the grunts and clinking of tools was anything to go by. Gerard gave up on his idea of closing the window, trying to convince himself that listening to Frank work while the other man didn’t know it wasn’t creepy at all.

“So… What happened with the girl you were with last Saturday?” said the second man, with a tone that indicated he was expecting gossip. This spiked Gerard’s curiosity, who finally stopped concentrating on the book in favor of listening in on the conversation.

“Yeah well, y’know” answered Frank, not giving any information.

This obviously didn’t satisfy the other man who asked, “c’mon! Did you get lucky?”

When, after a pause that felt like a million years, Frank answered with a quiet “yeah”, Gerard felt like a bucket of ice had been poured over him.

The conversation went on as the other man answered quickly; “so, how was she?” But Gerard had the sudden idea that maybe – just maybe – it wasn’t Frank out there. Deep down he was sure it was, but he tried to hang on to that hope and decided to look out the window to make sure.

“She was a really nice girl; and beautiful, too” maybe-not-Frank answered.

“Yeah, but how was she?” the other man said, as Gerard looked out the window.

“Y’know, I don’t really like the whole quick-fuck-in-an-alley thing,” said Frank as he worked on chopping a bush.

At this, Gerard slammed the window shut and went to his room to think.

He had known really well that Frank was out of limits, but he couldn’t get rid of the feeling of heartache. At first he was angry at himself because he had always known that he could only ever be friends with Frank and he shouldn’t be feeling that much pain, but then the anger washed away and he was left feeling numb and empty.

*

Frank began to worry when it had been a week and he still hadn’t seen Gerard. He really missed him, and, even though he knew getting so attached to him was dangerous, he was pretty eager to talk with him again.

Two weeks went by and Gerard still hadn’t talked to him. He knew he wasn’t sick because he had seen glimpses of him around the manor and it was obvious he was avoiding him. He wanted to confront him about it but he liked his job so he kept his mouth shut. Eventually he just accepted Gerard probably hated him for an unknown reason – if you can call spending endless hours thinking about what he might’ve done wrong and feeling shitty and heartbroken most of the time, accepting.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A baby is introduced! I don't know if this is a good idea or a really crappy one, but fuck it, babies are cute.

The man had dark, carefully styled hair that looked like a cow had licked it to the side and it was still wholly covered in spit; he was wearing neatly pressed clothes that Gerard suspected didn’t have the tinniest speck of dust. His face though was the most off putting thing about him; he obviously didn’t want to be there and that showed clearly in his features that were a mixture of disdain and annoyance. Gerard would’ve found this extremely funny (since the man was only a butler, and the disdain was quite out of place) if it wasn’t for the fact that he’d have to talk to him sooner or later, and he was running out of excuses to put it off.

Taking a deep breath, Gerard plastered a fake smile on his face and came out of his hiding place.

“Sorry for the wait, I had some urgent business I had to finish before I could receive you” lied Gerard.

“No problem, sir” the other man, too, lied. “I’m afraid I’ve come here to discuss a rather unpleasant business. I am Lord Nestor’s butler and I’ve come here to talk to one of your servants, a man called Frank Iero; he works as a gardener.”

Gerard tried to hide his surprise, or the fact that he knew that name all too well. The butler didn’t notice his distress and went on.

“Of course, I’ll explain the… incident, to you and then you can act accordingly to the circumstances” he said. Gerard nodded and the man went on. “This, servant of yours” the butler said disdainfully, making Gerard want to punch him in the face. “Look, there’s no other way to say this. This man took advantage of one of Lord Nestor’s daughters, he made her believe that he loved her and the poor, impressionable child fell in love with him. This is very shameful for me to say but he left her with child and then run away. As you can understand, we can’t let this scandal taint the family name and the lady didn’t want to give it up for adoption, instead she begged us to give it to the father and, we decided it was the best way to proceed so I’ve brought it here to give it to him.”

Gerard was perplexed. The story that he was hearing had nothing to do with the Frank he’d known, but he’d never imagined Frank was the type of man to go into the village and fuck some random girl in an alley, either, so he just guessed that the man had just been deceptive when he had been with him and that he didn’t really know him at all. He called Ray and told him to call for Frank while the other butler went into the coach that had brought him there to get the child.

When Frank was told that Lord Way wanted to see him he allowed himself to feel hope for the first time in the last few weeks. When he saw Ray’s serious face, however, a sense of dread overcame him. The butler led him to one of the rooms and, when he opened the door, he was shocked to see Jamia’s butler standing there.

The guy was an asshole – at least from what Jamia had told him and he was sure she wasn’t lying. Seeing him there was a huge shock to him, especially since it brought back so many painful memories of the only time he’d ever seen him. He was trying really hard to keep his promise to himself that he wouldn’t get stuck in the past but suddenly he felt dread creeping up on him; whatever reason brought him here was definitely not a good one.

He went into the room and saw Gerard sitting in one of the fancy chairs. If seeing the butler had scared him, Gerard’s face terrified him. He was looking at him with an extremely serious look that oozed anger and disdain.

Slowly, he made his way into the room until he was in front of the butler; the man then turned around and carefully picked up a bundle of blankets he hadn’t noticed before. Going back towards Frank, who suddenly realized it was a baby, and he put it in Frank’s arms.

“It’s your son,” the man said coldly.

In that moment, Frank felt so many things he just stood frozen looking at the baby’s face as the butler, having finished his business, left the room and presumably the manor.

The first thing that came over the shock was an overwhelming feeling of love for the little baby that he was awkwardly holding in his arms. He looked up at Gerard, not so sure and not really giving a shit anymore about what the man felt towards him, and hesitantly asked “can I sit?”

As the man nodded he sat in one of the couches, putting the baby on his thighs. He vaguely remembered he was supposed to hold the baby’s head, so he was careful, trying not to accidentally hurt him, and once he thought he was safe he began to unwrap the blankets.

“Be careful, you’re going to drop him,” said Gerard, rushing to his side to take the baby away from him. “Seriously, have you ever even held a baby before?”

He put him carefully on a table and finished unwrapping the blankets. “There’s a note,” he said as he held the small child again and placed him in Frank’s arms, making sure he was holding him right. “And don’t you dare putting him on your thighs like you did before, you’re going to kill him.”

“Sorry” muttered Frank, embarrassed.

After seeing the way Frank looked at the baby Gerard didn’t know what to think anymore. This definitely fit what he had thought of Frank before but… his actions had been so weird and contradictory. He decided that the easiest way to understand was simply asking.

“Frank…” he began, unsure of what and how he should ask, “can you like, explain?” He said, motioning to the baby.

And Frank did. He began telling him of how he’d met Jamia and fallen in love, how they were going to run away together, and how they’d been caught.

“After that I was living in a dumpster; I found a job as a gardener and tried to get by for a few months and then, I found a job here.” He finished, looking up at Gerard who was staring out of the window deep in thought. “Am I gonna lose my job?” he asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. This got Gerard’s attention; he turned to him and looked him in the eye.

“Of course not!” He answered almost offended. “I was just thinking. I don’t want this to come off the wrong way but…” he stopped, wanting to choose his words carefully, “I could take care of the baby, if you want me to. Obviously I don’t want to take him away from you, you could be with him as much as you wanted, whenever you could but, I could find a nurse and give him a good education, pretend he’s my son and he’d have more opportunities.” He concluded wishing it didn’t sound as if he wanted to steal his kid, because he didn’t.

Frank, on the other hand, was surprised by the offer and, if he was honest with himself, a bit taken aback. He wanted the boy to have the best opportunities he could but; he just didn’t want to leave him.

“I know this might be too much to ask but, I want him to have the best opportunities possible and I know that, having been born out of wedlock and all, you’re his best shot. But I just can’t stand the idea of being away from him so if you didn’t mind I’d like to maybe like, be with him? Like, in the room next door kind of thing?”  
“I know what this sounds like, okay? I know, it sounds as if I just want to live in a fancy room and pretend I’m as powerful as you are, but it’s not that. I genuinely just want to be near him and—“

“Frank” Gerard cut him off. “I know. Don’t worry; I have plenty of rooms, there’s absolutely no problem with you staying in one of them, okay?”

Frank smiled shyly at him. He still hadn’t fully processed everything that had happened that evening, or rather, he still didn’t fully comprehend what it would mean for him and how it’d shape his future, but now Gerard was repositioning the baby so Frank could carry him upstairs and freaking out about how he had to be VERY CAREFUL and, for a moment, he felt like he could have a real family, as if this could be his real family.

*

A crib was bought that evening and they talked to the housekeeper: a young woman who had been one of Gerard’s servants before he bought his own house and, as Ray, was given the charge of responsibility because she was trustworthy. She arranged for two rooms to be prepared, a nursery for the child and a bedroom for Frank in the adjacent room, both of them across the hall from Gerard’s. She also set to find a nurse as soon as possible.

Gerard talked with the Head Gardener and Frank got the rest of the day off, so he began moving his scarce belongings to the room downstairs. Once he was settled, Gerard had decided he wanted to buy the baby new clothing and that Frank must go with him, so he acted as his valet as to not attract attention in the city. Even though he had no idea how to act like a valet, Frank dressed in the clothes Gerard gave him and they went to a shop that sold baby stuff were Gerard got very excited (and really, so did Frank, it was just completely eclipsed by Gerard’s flamboyant way to show it). They left having bought pretty much half of the shop in cute clothes and pacifiers and onesies, and went back to the manor loaded with bags that they took into the nursery.

Then, Gerard began explaining to Frank his plans for the next trip into the city, when they’d have to buy toys and nice furniture and stuff to decorate the room. It was then that Frank knew he had made the right choice in letting Gerard take care of the baby.

*

That night, Frank was about to go to bed when he saw the letter on the table. He took it in his hands as if it was something precious – it was, after all, the last words he’d probably read from Jamia, ever. He sat on the bed and stared at it for a while, not wanting to open it quite yet, wanting the moment to last a little longer. Finally, he unfolded the piece of paper.

> My dearest Frank,  
>  I know that I probably won’t be able to see you ever again, and so I write this letter to say goodbye. There are so many things I want to say to you, but I guess you’ll have millions of questions right now so I’m going to begin by telling you about what’s happened in the last months.  
>  Not long after you had to leave I discovered I was pregnant. This made me feel ecstatic; I had a life growing inside of me that was the product of our love, the both of us united forever in a tiny human being. I dreaded that my family might want to harm the child if they found out, so I kept it hidden until just about two months ago. It had become impossible to hide my condition and so I went to talk to my mother. I wanted to keep the child so badly, but she said if I didn’t want to abandon the child I’d have to give him away, so I decided to give him to you.  
>  We presented the idea to my father as if we wanted to burden you for causing the trouble, which I sincerely hope is not what it feels like to you. I know you love children and I want our baby to have at least one parent who cares about him, and I know you’ll love him and take good care of him.  
>  I’m aware that the baby is a huge burden and will probably give you many problems; I’m so sorry. I sincerely hope you can give him a nice life, but I wont blame you if you can’t and decide to give him up for adoption; I just want you to know that.  
>  Other than that, I miss you. I’ve missed you since the second you left and I probably will for the rest of my life. However, I think I’m ready to move on and I hope you do too. Most of all what I want is for you to be happy, and even though it’s extremely unlikely I hope we’ll see each other again, at some point in the future.  
>  Good-by,
> 
> Jamia
> 
> PS: his name is Nick.

After rereading the letter, he finally fell asleep with tears in his eyes, just to be awakened soon after by the cries of his son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now I have two options: roll with what I have written which is about 500 words wrapping it up and put some porn on it to make it longer or write a chapter with an actually good ending and maybe porn (might take me more than a day to update). Please comment if you want the second cause if no one's interested in it I'll probably just do the first option.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! Sorry for the crappy porn :} (and the crappy fluff, and everything that sucks about this)

The next two weeks were hectic. They barely slept because of the baby and because they had decided pretty much the first night that they didn’t really want a nurse to take care of little Nick for them, so they'd hired one to come just while they were working, which meant that they were constantly walking in the middle of the night to the makeshift nursery - which was just a guest room with the crib and Nick’s stuff, as they hadn’t had time or energy to redecorate just yet. Gerard was the first one to begin sleeping in the baby’s room, too tired to go back across the hall to his own; he ended up sleeping there every night.

After a few nights, Frank joined him. It was just too convenient, since now they could argue about whose turn it was to feed Nick without having to get out of bed, and if they woke up cuddling each other or something awkward happened during the night, neither of them acknowledged it, too scared to lose the contact to realize they both wanted it just as badly.

After the first month, things began to settle a little bit. They had begun to have meals together in a small room where they’d put one of the many unused tables of the house and some chairs. This was because Frank was really uncomfortable in the huge dining room, where he felt out of place and didn’t dare speak louder than a whisper, feeling like there’d probably be an echo if he did.

They’d gotten into a routine. Wake up, laze around in bed for a while (usually ending in Frank dragging Gerard out of bed), go get coffee, work, lunch, work again, spend the whole evening together (in the library or in the living room, always watching over baby and being overprotective in general), dinner, back to Nick’s bedroom because he’s sleepy, chatting for a while or reading/drawing in bed, sleep, wake up whenever the baby cries, repeat. They were mostly happy with the arrangement, and so nothing changed until Mikey Way’s visit. 

Gerard’s younger brother came to visit them with his wife to stay with for a month. He knew the basics of what had happened, but since Gerard had been too busy to write often, he took Gerard for a walk almost as soon as he set foot in the manor and made him recount every single detail of the last few months to him. Gerard, whose head was foggy with mixed feelings and lack of sleep, was more than happy to comply.

Mikey, who had an outsider’s perspective, picked up on what was going on pretty much instantly, and if he’d had any doubts they were wiped out when he met Frank that evening and saw the way he looked at his brother.

By the end of the month, Frank and Mikey had become best friends, talking about horror books (that Frank had been devouring - if he kept reading at this rate, Gerard thought, he’d read all the books of the genre in the library by the end of the year, and those were a lot of books). Mikey tried really hard to convince Gerard that Frank returned his feeling but, seeing as his attempts to make him come to his senses were futile, on his last day on the manor he asked Frank to take him for a walk in the forest.

Spring had begun and rays of sunshine slipped through the gaps in the foliage.

“My brother’s in love with you” Mikey said, as soon as they were out of earshot. “Furthermore, I know for a fact that you love him back.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” said Frank with an awkward laugh.

“I already tried to convince him and it didn’t work so I’m not going to try to convince you, just listen me out and we don’t have to talk about this ever again.” He said. “I really care about my brother, so I want what’s best for him, and I really like you and believe he’d be really happy if you two were together; the both of you would be very happy. I’m just going to tell you about the reasons why I know he’s in love with you and then you can judge for yourself.”

Frank attempted to protest but in the end he just kept his mouth shut and listened to what Mikey had to say.

“Gerard keeps looking at you as if you were the best thing in the world, you know the look, it’s just the obviously-head-over-heels-in-love look. He has more drawings of you than of anything else in his notebook; seriously, it’d be incredibly creepy if it wasn’t because you love him back. What else, oh, yeah, you’ve been sleeping together for two months, for fuck’s sake! Do you really think it'd been okay with the both of you to sleep together if you didn't want to have each other's babies? There’s other stuff; but if you aren’t convinced by that, the subtle things won’t convince you. Just think about the way he treats you, okay? Compared to the other servants and stuff, he doesn't even see you as a servant anymore, you know? Anyways, that’s all I had to say, I think. Just think about it, okay?”

Frank was quiet all the way back to the manor, not very sure whether he should believe Mikey or not.

That night, after Mikey had left, Frank was alone in Nick’s room standing by the crib, looking at the sleeping baby. He began to think about all the privileges he had, and how he hadn’t really done anything to deserve more than the other servants, he was actually in a worse position than them since he had an illegitimate kid to care for, but even that had turned out to be a blessing for him. He began a loop of extreme feelings: unconditional love for the tiny baby in front of him followed by self-hatred because he thought he’d never be good enough for him.

Suddenly, a hand touched his hip and he startled. Gerard was behind him, gently caressing his back up to his shoulders, where he began massaging him. Once he realized this he relaxed and settled back into Gerard’s chest, beginning to let go of all the anxiety he felt.

“You are so tense,” he said. “What’s up? Is anything wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong” said Frank. “That’s the problem.” He added, whispering.

“What? Would you mind to explain?” said Gerard.

“Well, nothing’s wrong, but it should be.” He sighted. “I just think it’s extremely unfair and that I haven’t done anything to deserve all this. The baby, but especially you, and all your help. I mean, why?” he asked, turning around, “why do you do this? Why are you giving me so much stuff that I don’t deserve and...” he trailed off, looking at Nick’s sleeping figure out of the corner of his eye.

“Because you’re a good person and you do deserve it. The fact that I was born to my parents doesn’t entitle me to have so much; neither does it make you undeserving of what I have.” After a pause that felt like a century, he said, his voice barely above a whisper, “also, I’m beginning to think the reason why I want you to be the one I share all my unnecessary luxuries with is because I’m beginning to fall in love with you”.

Gerard was looking at the floor, not wanting to see Frank’s reaction. He wasn’t entirely sure why he’d confessed it, but he knew he would have done it eventually and, if Frank was going to have some kind of terrible reaction (that he really shouldn’t be trying to imagine) it was better that it was now when he could still leave than when Nick was older and their actions affected him more.

However, the negative reaction didn’t come and Gerard was debating whether he should look up or not when Frank decided for him, gently pushing his head up with his hand. Frank’s hand caressed his cheek and slowly, very slowly, he began to lean closer. When their noses were almost touching he stopped, unsure of whether this was real or just a joke or something. All his doubts disappeared when Gerard closed the remaining gap between their mouths, giving him a slow, short kiss.

They stood there for a while, holding each other and sharing soft kisses that began deepening progressively. When Frank couldn’t wait any longer, he took Gerard’s hand and pulled him towards the door that connected the baby’s room with his own.

They fell on the bed fully clothed, but once they were lying down, out of sight of the crib, their kisses turned much more desperate and they began fumbling with each other’s clothes. Frank finished unbuttoning Gerard’s shirt and slid it off him, and then, before having undone all the buttons, he took off his shirt, together with his undershirt.

He pushed his hips down on Gerard’s and they both moaned in pleasure. Gerard’s hands ran across Frank’s back, trying to feel as much skin as he could, but soon they reached his ass and he moved his hands to the front, unbuckling his belt. Their actions became much more frantic and passionate, Frank sucking on Gerard’s neck and collarbone, leaving tiny marks along the way.

Soon, they were both naked, moaning when their dicks began rubbing together. Frank got between Gerard’s legs and moved a hand to his ass. He didn’t know how much experience the other man had, but when he looked, uncertain, at Gerard, the other man nodded eagerly and he let his fingers go to his entrance.

Suddenly, he stood up and went to the nightstand, making Gerard groan disappointedly, but when he got back, he was holding a jar of what was definitely some kind of lubricant. Gerard raised an eyebrow at him but he only smirked.

Coating his fingers in lube, he slid one into Gerard’s hole, while slowly jacking his dick. When Gerard had relaxed, he slid a second finger inside him. He didn’t want to hurt him, so he waited until Gerard was writhing underneath him to add a third finger while he began kissing and biting his neck and shoulders.

Gerard let out a breathy moan and muttered, “come on Frankie, or I’m going to come right now.”

Frank promptly stopped jacking Gerard and began coating his own dick in lube. He moaned when he felt his hand around him, and then he moved closer to Gerard, reaching for a pillow to put under the other man’s back and caressing one of his legs, putting it over his shoulder.

It took all of his will not to snap his hips into Gerard, moving slowly instead, allowing him to get used to the stretch. Soon, Gerard was pushing back on his cock, and they got into a fast, needy rhythm. They were covered in sweat, their bodies slick and glimmering in the soft light, moans and pants filling the room.

Frank looked at Gerard. He had moved a hand to his dick and he was jacking himself. He was obviously close to the edge, his hairline was covered in sweat and his face contorted, his mouth slack. He was so beautiful, Frank suddenly realized that he wanted this for the rest of his life; he wanted to be with Gerard for the rest of his life. He couldn’t form words so he began gently kissing Gerard’s neck, trying to convey his feelings through his lips.

Frank moved a hand to Gerard’s cock, putting it over his until the other man let go and it was just his hand jacking Gerard. When he was about to come, he bit on Gerard’s shoulder to stifle the sound he wanted to make. This, together with the feeling of Frank coming inside him and his hand on his dick, sent Gerard over the edge and a few strokes later he too came, producing an obscene, loud moan.

Frank slid out of Gerard and collapsed on top of him. They stayed there, panting and feeling each other for a while. Then, Frank said a soft, “I love you.”

That took Gerard by surprise, and he whispered "I love you too". He kissed him and they held each other until they fell asleep, filthy and sweaty and, most importantly, together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it ^^ Please comment, constructive criticism very welcome and I love kudos 8]


End file.
